Smaller Teams Capitalize as Ferrari and McLaren Dwindle

It will be all too easy to forget that Ferrari and McLaren once fought each other to monopolize the Formula One Championship if they do not quickly mend the plethora of shortcomings that cast progressively darker shadows on their success.

In the past few seasons, we have seen both teams suffer greatly, and there is no one to blame but the teams themselves.

McLaren in 2007 brought upon a considerable amount of shame to their name with the espionage scandal, and just as we all thought they had turned things around in 2008, they had major aerodynamic problems for the 2009 season leaving them, not only out of the fight for the championship but struggling to make it past Q1 in qualifying.

With a combination of good luck and great driving by Lewis Hamilton, they managed to secure some incredibly valuable points considering their predicament, only to shamefully muck it all up due to their latest thoughtless and irresponsible actions.

They now find themselves back to square one with the added difficulty of juggling the tasks of defending their credibility as a team and fixing their severe aero problems.

If Lewis Hamilton is handed a multi-race suspension that will make matters even more difficult for the team.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ferrari prevented Felipe Massa from winning the 2008 driver championship due to reliability issues and faulty pitwork.

Their unprecedented ability to screw up strategy-wise is almost more impressive than the number of constructor's titles they possess. In 2007 we saw Massa run out of fuel mid-race!

In the opening weekends of the 2009 Formula One season we have seen Ferrari butcher Massa's race strategy in Melbourne and more embarrassingly sit on their behinds while watching Massa get bumped out of Q1!

I definitely do not have the qualifications to be calling the shots of a major Formula One team, but I could see over five minutes prior to the end of Q1 in Malaysia that Massa was constantly being bumped down spots, getting ever so close to P15.

I also knew immediately that Massa's race was ruined by the change of his pit strategy in Melbourne. If a fan can see these things coming a mile away, why on earth can't the Ferrari staff?

With the regulations having been shaken up so drastically this season, each mistake these two teams make will cost them exponentially more damage than their previous years of dominance.

While the two traditional giants dwindle, other teams are ready, willing and able to reap the benefits.